College Football Point Spreads 2013 Week 1

by Matt Foust on Monday, August 26th, 2013

The 2013 college football season kicks off on Thursday, August 29th with a 17 game lineup. There is the usual smattering of David versus Goliath season opening battles, but there are also a number of what should be quality games. Only two Top 25 teams are in action on Thursday night, though, as the sixth ranked South Carolina Gamecocks host the North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 24 USC squares off against Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. The latest College Football Point Spreads 2013 Week 1 have Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks listed as a 12.5 point favorite against the Tar Heels while the Trojans are laying 22 points in their season opening match-up with the Warriors.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs South Carolina Gamecocks (-12.5): South Carolina gets a tough one out of the gate with Larry Fedora’s Tar Heels visiting Columbia. The nationally televised battle (ESPN) is scheduled to kick off at 6:00pm ET. The Gamecocks are near two touchdown favorite, and that line is no surprise given their success at Williams-Brice Stadium in recent seasons; however, North Carolina, which finished up 8-4 last season, has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. The Heels had a number of players earn all ACC honors last season and they may have an effective neutralizer of Jadeveon Clowney in senior tackle James Hurst (first team All ACC last year, first team freshman All America in 2010). A North Carolina wins seems like a stretch, but a cover does not.

USC Trojans vs Hawaii Warriors (+22): The Trojans were college football’s biggest disappointment last season, but most pundits believe the team has enough talent, despite the loss of quarterback Matt Barkley, to make a run at the PAC 12 South title and, perhaps, a conference championship. Max Wittek, a highly touted recruit out of Mater Dei High School, steps in for Barkley and he will have plenty of experience around him. USC returns its leading rusher (Silas Redd) and top receiver (Marquis Lee) from a season ago, and the 2013 offensive line features four starters from last year’s squad. Whether or not the Trojans are able to contend for the PAC 12 Championship remains to be seen, but they should have little difficulty on Thursday against the Warriors. Hawaii, which fell 10-49 to USC in last year’s opener, will be improved with 16 starters returning, but there is still a wide gap between these two teams.